Uppland Runic Inscription 1014

Last updated April 02, 2019

U 1014 is the Rundata designation for a Viking Age memorial runestone that is located in Ärentuna, which is about one kilometer east of Lövstalöt, Uppland, Sweden.

The Scandinavian Runic-text Data Base is a project involving the creation and maintenance of a database of runic inscriptions. The project's goal is to comprehensively catalog runestones in a machine-readable way for future research. The database is freely available via the Internet with a client program, called Rundata, for Microsoft Windows and ASCII text files for other operating systems.

The Viking Age is a period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, following the Germanic Iron Age. It is the period of history when Scandinavian Norsemen explored Europe by its seas and rivers for trade, raids, colonization, and conquest. In this period, the Norsemen settled in Norse Greenland, Newfoundland, and present-day Faroe Islands, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Normandy, Scotland, England, Wales, Ireland, Isle of Man, the Netherlands, Germany, Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and Italy.

A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition began in the 4th century and lasted into the 12th century, but most of the runestones date from the late Viking Age. Most runestones are located in Scandinavia, but there are also scattered runestones in locations that were visited by Norsemen during the Viking Age. Runestones are often memorials to dead men. Runestones were usually brightly coloured when erected, though this is no longer evident as the colour has worn off. Most Runestones are found in present day Sweden.

Description

This runic inscription consists of runic text carved on a serpent that circles a center where the serpent's head and tail are intertwined. A small Christian cross is in the upper part of the design. The runestone is 1.01 meters in height and made of gneiss. The inscription for stylistic reasons has been attributed to the runemaster Öpir, who was active in the Uppland area in the late 11th or early 12th century. It has its runic inscription around an intricate animal design and is carved in runestone style Pr5, also known as the Urnes style. This runestone style is characterized by slim and stylized animals that are interwoven into tight patterns. The animal heads are typically seen in profile with slender almond-shaped eyes and upwardly curled appendages on the noses and the necks.

The Christian cross, seen as a representation of the instrument of the crucifixion of Jesus, is the best-known symbol of Christianity. It is related to the crucifix and to the more general family of cross symbols, the term cross itself being detached from the original specifically Christian meaning in modern English.

Gneiss A common high-grade metamorphic rock

Gneiss is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. Gneiss is formed by high temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Orthogneiss is gneiss derived from igneous rock. Paragneiss is gneiss derived from sedimentary rock. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures and pressures than schist. Gneiss nearly always shows a banded texture characterized by alternating darker and lighter colored bands and without a distinct foliation.

Runemaster specialist in making runestones

A runemaster or runecarver is a specialist in making runestones. More than 100 names of runemasters are known from Viking Age Sweden with most of them from 11th century eastern Svealand. Many anonymous runestones have more or less securely been attributed to these runemasters. During the 11th century, when most runestones were raised, there were a few professional runemasters. They and their apprentices were contracted to make runestones and when the work was finished, they sometimes signed the stone with the name of the runemaster. Many of the uncovered runic inscriptions have likely been completed by non-professional runecarvers for the practical purposes of burial rites or record-keeping. Due to the depictions of daily life, many of the nonprofessional runecarvers could have been anything from pirates to soldiers, merchants, or farmers. The layout of Scandinavian towns provided centers where craftspeople could congregate and share trade knowledge. After the spread of Christianity in these regions, and the increase in runic literacy that followed, runes were used for record-keeping and found on things like weapons, ivory, and coins.

The runic text states that a man named either Holmgeirr or Hjalmgeirr raised the stone as a memorial to his two sons, Ígulfastr and Svarthǫfði. The name Svarthǫfði translates as "Black Head,"^[1] and was often used as a nickname.^[2]

Inscription

Transliteration of the runes into Latin characters

iolmkeʀ ' lit ' raisa ' stain ' ifti[ʀ ' iulfast ' uk '] suartufþa ' suni ' sina^[3]

Transcription into Old Norse

Holmgeirr/Hjalmgeirr lét reisa stein eptir Ígulfast(?) ok Svarth]ǫfða, sonu sína.^[3]

Translation in English

Holmgeirr/Hjalmgeirr had the stone raised in memory of Ígulfastr(?) and Svarthǫfði, his sons.^[3]

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References

↑ Blackwell, I. A. (transl.) (1906). The Elder Eddas of Saemund Sigfusson. Norreona Society. p. 343.
↑ Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1878). An Icelandic-English Dictionary. Clarendon Press. p. 607.
1 2 3 Project Samnordisk Runtextdatabas Svensk - Rundata entry for U 1014.

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[1] Blackwell, I. A. (transl.) (1906). The Elder Eddas of Saemund Sigfusson. Norreona Society. p. 343.

[2] Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1878). An Icelandic-English Dictionary. Clarendon Press. p. 607.

[Rundata-3] 1 2 3 Project Samnordisk Runtextdatabas Svensk - Rundata entry for U 1014.